Aria Hotel Alpine Route

it was our first time ever to stay in a Japanese Inn, Ryokan, with it beautiful room and sliding door, tatami floor, like living in a old Samurai movie set ! and with the white snow surrounding the Ryokan, it was unforgettable . the Ryokan is about 15mins by bus ( free) from the Shinano machi stations, just have to ask the friendly stations staff, they will show you where the bus stop. when we arrived late into the afternoon, the very friendly Miss Wakako was waiting patiently for our arrival , it was a family run hotel Ryokan, the breakfast was delicious, prepare and serve by her father and mother in the morning . Her father was always ready to help , where to go what to see, and Miss Wakako was so nice to drive us to the train station when it time to check out . i going to miss this place ! and will definitely be back again .

The hotel is located 15 minutes from the train station which cost ¥2800 ($26.83) each way. For that extra cost we could have stayed in a very nice place in town and not had to contend with taxi in the morning. It was way more expensive than it should have been I thought. Everything was old, carpet was faded, walls were cracked, the view was of unkempt yards and construction debris, lobby furniture was outdated. There were boxes piled up in the "souvenir shop". Clearly we were the only ones staying here. In its heyday it was probably a nice place. The beds were very firm, with one small pillow. The towels were small and thin. The room smelled a bit musty. Definitely bare bones, but large. The curtains let in a lot of light. Breakfast was pretty good. However, we asked for coffee and my cup wasn't rinsed out and there was debris floating on top including a small bug. The service was nice, but I wondered how clean the rooms were based on what I saw elsewhere. There is absolutely nothing to do in that area outside of ski season. Nothing was open except for a small one-room restaurant. The food there was actually quite delicious, but the menu is all in Japanese. While the kitchen looked kind of gross by the door, I actually saw the guy cleaning the prep surface and knife with soapy water between each preparation. We are both adventurous and don't mind primitive stays, but I expect that to be reflected in the price. I wouldn't stay here again and wouldn't recommend it. Especially if you aren't skiing.

Japanese style room is worth to try as you can feel the old days Japan from the decoration and the home appliances. All the rooms are named after the mountains in Japan. As a whole, the hotel is a bit old and it will give you an old day Western and Japanese fusion feel. The hotel has Wifi at the lobby (no Internet access in the room) which is different from what the online hotel booking web site said, which should be recent upgrade. We booked one hour onsen spa (no extra charge) during our stay for private use only and it was opened from the afternoon until mid night. So, you can enjoy a big onsen with your family or pal privately; and the onsen is good. It is worth to try. During our stay, may be due to the low season, we only saw the owner and we did not see any other staff. It appeared only the owner doing all the job (manning the front desk, serving dinner, cleaning, making room, …etc) and he is over 70 (feeling a bit uneasy to have the elderly serving us). Anyway, he is helpful and reachable most of time. If he is not around at the front desk, you can call his mobile from the front desk. We can communicate with the owner using simple English but we did not see any other staff speaking English as mentioned in other post. So far, we did not encounter much problem. The hotel is about 10 - 15 minutes walk from the bus stop (and the main shopping/restaurant street). The location marked by the online booking web sites are incorrect. Please use the hotel address and the google map to locate the hotel before you visit the hotel. Otherwise, you will going to a total different direction. The route path is easy to walk even with your suite case. My wife and I explored quite a lot of interesting spots on the way between the hotel and the bus stop. We found a small statue right in front of the hotel. Later on, we found that it is the “大町温泉平成道祖神”; and there are total four of them. Try to locate all of them on the way from hotel to the bus stop. We compared the price of snack, food and gift and they were more or less the same as what you get from the shops at Murodo of Alpine Route.

This place is a hotel with a lot of potential. You can see that the owners just opened up shop when they bought an older hotel, and they are trying to make this work. Rooms were very spacious and clean. Staff spoke perfect English (at least the son did) and they are very flexible and helpful. The hotel offers a free onsen and spa for their guests and that was the nicest place in the hotel. A large area to unwind after a long and exciting day on the Tatayama Kurobe Alpine Route. Please keep in mind that there are no shops or restaurants around, so be prepared for that. However, the hotel has a small size shop where you can buy drinks and snacks for your stay. Please go here, so that the owners can make money and start renovating this quaint hotel which has so much potential. We would 100% certainly go back here!

大町温泉郷バス停から10分程度歩く位置。 ホテル名の表示が簡体字併記してあったりするので、コロナ前は中国人客を積極的に受け入れていた宿なのだと思われる。 公式サイトなど見ると、ずいぶん写真がきれいだが、かなりフォトショってると思われる。実際は昭和の香りぷんぷんの老朽化したホテル。でも、個人的にはこういう宿も嫌いじゃない。 入ってすぐの部屋にソファとテーブルがある。なんと表現したらいい部屋なのかわからないが、これ使い勝手よかった。ふすまを開けておくとテレビが見える。8畳と4畳半かな。 温泉大浴場は、入れるのは16時から22時まで。朝風呂には入れない。部屋にユニットバスもあるので、朝風呂ならユニットバスを使うしかない。 大町温泉は弱アルカリ性の単純泉。循環排水口らしきパイプがあったので循環かな？塩素臭は感じなかった。単純泉なのでありがたみは薄い。天井の清掃状態が悪いかな。 夕食のメインはすき焼き。このほかに小椀のそばがつく。 自分には十分な量だったが、夕食をがっつり食いたい人には物足りないかも。あと焼き物がほしいところ。 朝食はチープではあるが、白米を消費できる構成で悪くない。